Passchendaele
Passchendaele© BeerTourism.com
The Brewery
Emelgem (Izegem)
8870
West Flanders, Belgium
+32 (0) 51 33 51 60
Beer Style
Belgian Special Blond Ale
The Beer
Passchendaele is one of the more recent additions to the extensive range offered by Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck. This beer was brewed in collaboration with the 'Memorial Museum' in Zonnebeke and 'Genootschap Passchendaele 1917'.
After a year’s brewery testing this beer was introduced in the early spring of 2013. It revealed itself to be a light, high fermentation beer but with a really quite modest alcohol content. This in itself is exceptional and emphases the idiosyncratic character of the brewery.
To ensure that memories of the Great War and the Battle of Passchendaele remain alive, some of the the revenue generated is to be donated to the municipality of Zonnebeke to help maintain their memorials. This is also the brewery’s way of remembering all those who lost their lives.
The beer was developed and intended to be as close as is possible to what soldiers would have drunk during the war.
Alcohol
5.2 % ABV
Fermentation
Top-fermentation, filtered, pasteurised and centrifuged.
Ingredients
This beer harks back to the basic ingredients in use at the time: malt, (Belgian) hops, yeast and water.
Colour & Transparency
Very clear and transparent beer. Golden blonde colour with a nice white frothy head.
Serving Temperature
6 °C / 42.8 °F
Serving Glass
For this unique beer, the glass selected is very far removed from that normally used for Belgian beers. It was decided to serve Passchendaele in an English pint glass. The glass is available in a half pint (25cl) and full pint format and comes with the official logo of the Passchendaele Society.
Character, Tastes & Aromas
As mentioned before, the idea behind this beer was to get close to the taste of beer brewed and and drunk in the region during WWI. To this end, the brewery carried out extensive research.
The outcome was a fresh thirst quencher with a zesty finish, thanks to the Belgian hops.
Culinary
This beer was not specifically designed to be a culinary or gastronomic beer, unlike the Trignac or Cuvée du Chateau.
Nevertheless, it is a perfect companion to delicate fish dishes or a summertime barbecue.
It also suits spicy dishes of Eastern origin, such as Thai, Indian curries or couscous. If you are enjoying this beer in Belgium you will find it makes a lovely pairing with two of the highlights of our national cuisine: mussels with fries or steak with fries.
Keeping and Storage
It was meant to be a fresh thirst quenching brew and this is how it should be enjoyed. The taste will not improve with storage.
Availability
Bottle ✔ On Tap ✔
Passchendaele was created with a view to the international market so it is widely available both within Belgium and far beyond its borders. Like Kasteel, exports reach as far afield as Australia.
Available in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in the front line countries of WWI.
Other Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck Beers
BaristaKasteel Barista Chocolate Quad is the successor to Kasteel Winter, a seasonal beer that has been discontinued. Barista is a dark degustation beer that can be enjoyed all year long - on an outdoor terrace or in front of an open fir ...
[ read more ]
St. Louis Premium GueuzePremium Gueuze is the flagship brew of the St. Louis range and one of the jewels in the crown of Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck. This was by no means certain when Luc Van Honsebrouck decided, a few decennia ago, to start gueuze pr ...
[ read more ]
St. Louis Gueuze Fond TraditionThis gueuze is a completely different beer compared to the St. Louis Premium Gueuze. This beer was created as the result of a challenge. During a brewery visit by Professor Gilbert Baetslé with a group of Hogeschool students from ...
[ read more ]
Bacchus FrambozenbierBacchus Frambozenbier (Framboise) is similar to Bacchus Kriekenbier as the base for both fruit beers is Bacchus Oud Vlaams Bruin. Fresh raspberries are added to the beer which will continue to mature before leaving the brewery. T ...
[ read more ]
SlurfkeIn the north of Belgium everyone knows what a Slurfke is: it is the beer that Eddy Van Noteghem, a main character in the wildly popular television series 'Thuis' ('Home'), is busy brewing with his friends. Now this fictitious beer ...
[ read more ]
Comments
You must be logged in to leave a comment
SHARE:
You Might Like
Everything you ever wanted to know about (Belgian) beer under one roof. You get to feel, smell and taste ingredients and discover the typical Belgian beer styles. Come celebrate Belgian beer culture in heart of historic Bruges! Shop and bar are accessible without visiting the museum.
The Duvel Moortgat Brewery caters to everyone’s tastes with 3 different brewery experiences. From complete novice to experienced beer lover, Duvel has the brewery visit package for you.
Brewery Van Honsebrouck - Bierkasteel
Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck, well known for it's "Kasteel" beer range, now offers their Bierkasteel beer experience; brewery visit, event location, restaurant, bar and shop. Open from 10th August 2016.
The ultimate book on Belgian beer; a 704 page illustrated hardcover written by Erik Verdonck and Luc de Raedemaeker. Discover how brewing works, how to tap, pour, taste and store your beer; which beer styles and types there are, how to pair beer and food, must-try beers and what about the new craft beer trend? The Belgian Beer Book covers it all.
BLOG
POSTS
'Het Bierkasteel' - My home is my beer castle
IZEGEM - Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck is proud to present ‘Het Bierkasteel’ (the Beer Castle); a brand new multi-purpose space designed and built for events, relaxation, brewery visit and beer experiences. ... [ more ]
Beer & Battlefields: The Passchendaele Tour
ZONNEBEKE/YPRES - Following on from the launch of Passchendaele, its WWI commemorative beer, Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck has now introduced the Beer & Battlefields Passchendaele Tour. Part of... [ more ]
Masters of Brewing: Hans Mehuys from Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck
INGELMUNSTER - Hans Mehuys has been wielding the mashing stick at the Van Honsebrouck brewery for over a quarter of a century. Six years ago he was appointed as Brewmaster and Head of Production. ... [ more ]
Brewing for the future with Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck
IZEGEM/INGELMUNSTER - Summer 2015: the first test brews are flowing out of the tanks at Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck’s new brewery in Izegem. There have been no rash or rushed decisions from these brewers.... [ more ]
Passchendaele, the Great War remembrance beer
ZONNEBEKE/YPRES - Throughout the British Commonwealth, the name of Passendale is just as well-known as that of Ypres and Flanders Fields. This is where half a million soldiers lost their lives in World War I. ... [ more ]
More Beer
Barista is a unique beer within the Kasteel range and as such has an impressive glass to compliment it. As with the other Van Honsebrouck gastronomic beers (Trignac and Cuvée du Ch... [ more ]
Beer Tourism Newsletter Signup
Enter your name and email address on the right and click "SignUp" to join.